A Geo-Economic Turn in Trade Policy?

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

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2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Geo-economic Motives and the Negotiation of Free Trade Agreements: Introduction

      • Johan Adriaensen, Evgeny Postnikov

      Pages 3-26

3. A Geo-Economic Trade Environment

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 27-27

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   2. The Politics of FTAs in Asia: The Role of China and Implications for EU Trade Policy

      • Soo Yeon Kim

      Pages 29-53

   3. US Trade Policy: Japan vs. China, from Politically Economic to Existential

      • Bart Kerremans

      Pages 55-72

   4. Global Value Chains and EU–East Asia Trade: An Antidote for Geo-Economic Competition?

      • Ferdi De Ville

      Pages 73-94

4. Designing Geo-Economic Trade Agreements

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 95-95

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   2. Intellectual Property Rights. EU and US Initiatives in the Asia–Pacific: Competition, Coordination or Duplication?

      • Jean-Frédéric Morin, Madison Cartwright

      Pages 97-125

   3. Most-Favoured Nation Clauses: A Double-Edged Sword in a Geo-Economic Era

      • Fabian Bohnenberger, Clara Weinhardt

      Pages 127-148

   4. Product Regulations: You Can Drive My Car, Otherwise Let It Be

      • Alasdair R. Young

      Pages 149-173

   5. Rules of Origin: Bridging Regions to Withstand Turbulent Times

      • Jong Bum Kim

      Pages 175-195

   6. Sustainable Development in EU–Asia Trade Relations

      • Camille Nessel, Jan Orbie

      Pages 197-221

5. Case Studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 223-223

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   2. EU and South Korea: A Model Example for Foreign Trade Policy Relations?

      • Hanns Günther Hilpert, Sunghoon Park

      Pages 225-246

   3. Australia and the EU: From Trade Tensions to FTA Negotiations

      • Margherita Matera, Laura Allison-Reumann, Philomena Murray

      Pages 247-271

   4. EU–Singapore Negotiations: Overlapping Negotiations, Conflicting Interests?

      • Lachlan McKenzie, Katharina L. Meissner

      Pages 273-293

   5. The Vietnam-European Union Free Trade Agreement: Victim of Changing Times?

      • Ha Hai Hoang, Maria Garcia

      Pages 295-317

   6. EU-Indonesia Trade Relations

      • Alexandra Hennessy, Poppy S. Winanti

      Pages 319-342

6. Conclusion

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 343-343

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Contemporary trade policy is increasingly framed in geo-strategic terms. But how much of that rhetoric is reflected in actual policy choices by the EU or its trading partners? This book provides a first systematic study of the broader international context in which EU trade agreements are conceived, negotiated, and designed. Building on a refined conceptualisation of geo-economics, the book develops a cogent framework that combines insights from scholarship on the design of free trade agreements with ideas from foreign policy analysis. Empirically, the analysis focuses on the relations between the EU and the Asia-Pacific. Following the United States’ pivot to Asia and the EU’s Global Europe strategy, China’s backyard has become the main arena in which global powers’ geo-economic strategies overlap. Building on a series of case-studies, combining the perspectives from the EU and its trading partners, the book shows that the rhetoric of geo-economic competition is yet to catch up with the actual negotiation and design of free trade agreements. This volume will be of great interest to scholars, students and practitioners who want to gain a holistic understanding of contemporary trade negotiations.

• EU Politics
• Trade policy
• Trade Relations
• EU-Asia relations
• Design of free trade agreements
• Geo-economics

“This timely edited volume focuses on the trade preferences of systemic rivals to leverage their power differentials in the Asia-Pacific region. Focusing on how Europe pursues strategic trade agreements with Asian partners, as well as the response of the US and China to the strategic context of EU trade policy in Asia, this empirically rich edited volume covers both the negotiations as well the design of specific chapters of preferential trade agreements. While the bargaining dynamics and structural power of the US and China impact European efforts to shape market outcomes, the case studies illustrate considerable variation in terms of European market power and regulatory authority that challenges the liberal value based trade narrative. Drawing instead on a geo-economic perspective, this edited volume brings together research in international political economy and foreign policy analysis that will be of interest to scholars focused on regional studies, political economy, and international relations. It will be important for those focusing on the structural power and systemic rivalry in international trade politics in the Asia-Pacific region.” (Michelle Egan, American University)

“Trade policy, long relegated to the technical realm, has recently moved to the forefront of high politics. The use of trade for geo-strategic purpose, and of economic statecraft more broadly, represents a fundamental shift in the trade policy of the European Union and opens up a new era of global uncertainty. This great volume is one of the first to address directly the recent geo-politicization of EU trade policy. It is also notable for its promising merger of the International Political Economy and Foreign Policy literatures, which often exist in their own academic silos. Bringing together an impressive roster of established and rising scholars from all around the globe, A Geo-Economic Turn in Trade Policy shine a particularly important focus on the Asia-Pacific region,which is of obvious contemporary relevance. A must-read!” (Sophie Meunier, Princeton University)

• Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands

  Johan Adriaensen

• School of Social & Political Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

  Evgeny Postnikov

Johan Adriaensen is Assistant Professor at Maastricht University, The Netherlands. His research focuses on institutional politics and EU trade policy. He is the author of “National Administrations in EU trade policy” (Palgrave, 2016).

Evgeny Postnikov is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He has published on trade and sustainable development in leading journals and is author of “Social Standards in EU and US Trade Agreements” (2020).

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